EconStor Community: Williams Project on the Economics of Higher Education, Williams Collegehttp://hdl.handle.net/10419/304
Williams Project on the Economics of Higher Education, Williams College

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Affordability of highly selective colleges and universities IIhttp://hdl.handle.net/10419/58242
Title: Affordability of highly selective colleges and universities II
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<br/>Authors: Hill, Catharine B.; Davis-Van Atta, David; Gambhir, Rishad; Winston, Gordon C.
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<br/>Abstract: Using data for 2008/09, we update a 2001/02 study that examined the pricing policies with respect to family income at highly selective private colleges and universities and the distribution of students by family income at these schools. We find significant reductions in net prices relative to sticker prices and incomes across all income quintiles, as expected given financial aid policy changes at these schools in recent years. More interestingly, we find some increase in the share of low-income students at these schools, and increase on average from about 10% to 11% from the bottom 40% of the income distribution. We also find an increase in the share of the student body from top income quintile receiving financial aid (from about 14,5% to 18% of the student body). The share of all students, aided and non-aided, from the top 20% of the income distribution has remained approximately constant during this period, suggesting that the increase in the share of aided students in the quintile has come from formerly and unaided high income students.A note on how well available income information identifies low-income studentshttp://hdl.handle.net/10419/58241
Title: A note on how well available income information identifies low-income students
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<br/>Authors: Winston, Gordon; Hill, Catharine; Zimmerman, David
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<br/>Abstract: This note looks at the quality of the information on family income that selective colleges rely on to increase equality of opportunity by recruiting high-ability, low-income students. Individual family income estimates embedded in the College Board's search parameters are compared, for 635 recent Williams matriculants, with their incomes as reported on IRS Forms 1040 and, for further comparison, with self-reported incomes. The data suggest that there is considerable room for improvement and, indeed, until there is better information, that any effort to increase equality of opportunity by energetic recruitment of high-ability, low-income students will be haphazard at best.Social comparison of abilities at an elite college: Feeling outclassed with 1350 SATshttp://hdl.handle.net/10419/58240
Title: Social comparison of abilities at an elite college: Feeling outclassed with 1350 SATs
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<br/>Authors: Kugler, Matthew B.; Goethals, George R.
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<br/>Abstract: Two studies explored the experience and performance of students at Williams College in three-person groups that were homogeneous or heterogeneous in rated academic ability. In accord with hypotheses from Festinger's (1954) social comparison theory, students in academically homogeneous groups had more positive experiences and performed better on measures of written and video-taped performance. These results differ somewhat from recent studies of peer effects among roommates and from a line of recent social comparison research regarding the effect of exposure to superior others on one's own performance. In addition, students in single-sex groups had higher scores on several self-report and performance measures. Qualifying this finding were additional results showing that women did better in single-sex, while men did better in mixed-sex groups. The overall results were framed in terms of social comparison dynamics.Low-income students and highly selective private colleges: Searching and recruitinghttp://hdl.handle.net/10419/58239
Title: Low-income students and highly selective private colleges: Searching and recruiting
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<br/>Authors: Hill, Catharine B.; Winston, Gordon
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<br/>Abstract: Low-income students access to the best of American higher education is a matter not only of individual equality of opportunity, but of social efficiency in fully utilizing the nations talents. If very able students are denied access to highly demanding colleges because of low family incomes, society suffers along with the individual. So it has been our assumption that these privileged schools should aim to have their student bodies include students from low-income families at least in proportion to their share in the national population of high ability students.